Today, Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino, III is inaugurated as the 15th president of the Republic of the Philippines. He started his political career as congressman of the third district of Tarlac. Thanks to this event, I am reminded of our stopover on our way down from our Baguio trip, which was in Tarlac. Gerona, Tarlac to be exact.
Isdaan to be absolutely precise about it.
(Ah, talk about segues!)
Before that trip, the only notion I had of
Isdaan is from a travel TV show. Images of gigantic statues, teeming fishponds, and the Taksiyapo Wall had captured my imagination, and I had thought that
Isdaan would be such a nice place to visit someday.
It certainly lived up to every single one of my expectations. The place was like one huge theme park and it made for fantastic photo ops.
If you are up to the challenge, you could score a kilo of fresh fish by crossing a narrow concrete trail in between two fishponds- the
San Kilo Bridge.
Be wary of the fineprint though- aside from simply crossing the perilously narrow bridge, you must do so carrying a bucket of water the whole time (Putting the bucket down is forbidden, lest you forfeit your chance at getting that free kilo of fish.), go over conch shells, and try to avoid water fountains being spewed out of giant monkey statues.
Then you must do the same thing again on your way back.
It sounds daunting, yes, but our friend, Spocky was able to do it (Yay, Spocky!). We enjoyed watching him do it just as much as we enjoyed the kilo of fresh Tilapia. We also had a ball running up to the statues to take pictures, feeding the fish in the ponds, and ringing the bell at the Golden Buddha tower for luck. Of course the food at
Isdaan, a sister company of
Barrio Fiesta, is also something to look forward to.
Before leaving, maybe you'd want to stop by the Taksiyapo Wall to smash some plates and release all your tensions and leave them behind in Tarlac. I think it's a great way to cap off a vacation.
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